The prevalence of electronic devices, such as watches, remotes, hearing aids, and toys, has provided unprecedented convenience and amusement to our life in many ways. It is significantly attributed to button cells. The global market for these thin, portable, and affordable power sources keeps expanding and is expected to exceed US$1.77 billion by 2014 from US$1.1 billion in 2007.
Peril from the tiny batteries has become more widespread as button cells become more popular in the household. Serious injuries by accidental ingestion, in particular by children, have been seen, such as persistent drooling, choking, and even death. More than 3,500 cases of button cell ingestion are reported annually in the US, and the rising severity of the danger has motivated the US and Australian governments to set up hotlines and websites dedicated to the accidents.
In most cases of battery ingestion no perceivable signs or symptoms are observed from the victim until serious health problems occur. Moreover, no information about the swallowed battery (such as voltage) is available, which makes it extremely difficult to recognise the accident and give medical treatment in a timely and appropriate way.
To date, no practical answer which will prevent children from swallowing batteries has been devised. Various measures have been suggested in order to reduce the possibility of accidental swallowing of foreign objects, such as warning labels or screw-fastened battery compartments, but these have not been effective in terms of child protection. As the majority of the accidents happen when the victim picks up and ingests a battery that has been left unattended after removal from its original package or from a battery compartment, or when a battery is incorrectly disposed of after use, these conventional suggestions have fundamental limitations as child protection measures.
JP 1996-206368 suggests a method of adding a semi-permeable coat layer onto the surface of small objects by dipping the objects in a bath of embittering emetic solution for the prevention of mistaken ingestion.
JP 1997-192580 suggests a pen-type applicator of embittering emetic liquid for home use.
WO 2007/022563 along with AU 2006100239 and AU 2005904602 describes a taste aversive composition and packaging.
The prior art suggests methods for the prevention of mistaken ingestion of objects having a potential hazard, however the inclusion of additional processes may cause a significant cost rise in manufacturing and there is a risk of abuse or misuse of mixtures of chemicals in a consumer product. Moreover, the prior art does not provide any means of visual indication of the ingestion and identification of the objects.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to ameliorate these deficiencies; and/or to at least provide the public with a useful choice.
Other features of the invention may become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only.
In this specification where reference has been made to patent specifications, other external documents, or other sources of information, this is generally for the purpose of providing a context for discussing the features of the invention. Unless specifically stated otherwise, reference to such external documents is not to be construed as an admission that such documents, or such sources of information, in any jurisdiction, are prior art, or form part of the common general knowledge in the art.